Actual  Films  and  Switchback  Films  Present  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Press  Kit  

 Contact:  

Jackie  Krentzman,  executive  producer/producer  

510-­‐524-­‐7499  

Jackie@switchbackfilms.com  

 

 

 

 

About  the  film:  

Logline:  

American  Jerusalem  tells  the  story  of  the  pioneer  Jews  of  San  Francisco,  who  came  to  California  from  Germany  during  the  Gold  Rush  and  were  instrumental  in  building  the  city.  The  roles  they  were  relegated  to  in  Germany⎯peddler  and  petty  merchant⎯were  highly  valued  in  the  Gold  Rush.  Therefore,  because  of  the  openness  of  Gold  Rush  California,  these  Jews  were  far  more  assimilated  into  and  had  a  greater  impact  on  the  building  and  defining  of  a  major  city  than  any  other  Jewish  community  in  America.  But  this  acceptance  came  at  a  price,  as  assimilation  put  this  community  in  danger  of  losing  its  Jewish  identity.    

Storyline:  

In  1850  20-­‐year-­‐old  Adolph  Sutro  stepped  off  a  steamer  ship  into  the  ragtag  city  of  San  Francisco,  after  an  arduous  journey  from  New  York  through  the  Panama  Isthmus  and  up  the  Pacific  Coast.  No  one  made  any  special  notice  of  him  or  his  Jewish  faith.  For  a  young  man  who'd  grown  up  in  Germany,  who  had  migrated  to  America  with  his  mother  and  siblings  to  escape  poverty  and  anti-­‐Semitism,  this  was  startling.  

American  Jerusalem  will  trace  the  arcs  of  Sutro,  Isaias  Hellman  and  Levi  Strauss,  from  tightly  constrained  lives  in  Germany  to  the  unprecedented  opportunities  of  Gold  Rush  San  Francisco,  to  their  critical  role  in  putting  on  the  1915  World’s  Fair—which  demonstrated  how  thoroughly  integrated  the  Jews  were  into  the  city’s  power  structure.      

Thousands  of  Jews  left  Germany  around  1850  seeking  economic  and  religious  freedom  in  the  United  States.  In  1848  San  Francisco  was  an  insignificant  outpost,  with  barely  1,000  souls.  Then  James  Marshall  discovered  gold  on  the  American  River,  120  miles  east  of  the  fledgling  city.  Tens  of  thousands  of  prospectors  flocked  to  California,  including  many  Jews.  Some  came  from  the  Eastern  seaboard,  but  more  came  directly  from  Europe,  including  thousands  from  Bavaria,  fleeing  draconian  restrictions,  such  as  laws  forbidding  any  male  but  the  firstborn  from  marrying.    

Unlike  the  other  49ers,  these  Jewish  pioneers  didn’t  seek  their  mother  lode  in  the  gold  mines  themselves.  They  sought  their  fortune  by  servicing  the  miners.  In  fact,  the  very  occupations  to  which  they  were  relegated  to  in  Germany,  primarily  peddlers  and  merchants,  were  the  skills  considered  most  valuable  in  Gold  Rush  California.  

These  newcomers  sought  more  than  just  economic  freedom—they  came  seeking  the  opportunity  to  shape  a  new  life  for  their  families  and  their  people.  They  came  to  California  in  search  of  a  life  free  of  the  constrictions  of  the  “Old  World”—the  Old  World  represented  both  by  Europe  secular  governments  and  their  own  rabbinical  authorities.    

In  San  Francisco  they  found  their  Promised  Land.  By  1870,  the  city  was  a  thriving  metropolis  of  150,000,  more  than  10%  Jewish—  the  largest  Jewish  population  outside  of  New  York  City.  By  day  the  Jewish  merchants  cut  backroom  deal  with  the  Crockers,  

 

 

Stanfords  and  Huntingtons,  and  by  night  they  played  cards  with  them  in  their  clubs—clubs  that  didn’t  exclude  Jews.    

In  the  19th  century,  this  level  of  integration  could  only  happen  in  California.  The  new  state  was  an  “open  society”—anyone  (provided  they  were  white  and  male),  could  prosper.  There  were  no  pre-­‐existing  social  structures  or  built-­‐in  infrastructures  to  stratify  the  newcomers.  Therefore,  the  Jews  were  among  the  city  founders,  and  were  integral  in  building  the  civic  infrastructure  of  San  Francisco.  

But  acceptance  and  success  can  come  at  a  price—in  this  case  identity.  The  pioneer  Jews  had  to  struggle  with  the  timeless  immigrant  question  of  whether  one  can  be  equally  Jewish  and  American—or  must  one  identity  win  out?    

The  film  also  explores  the  darker  side  of  San  Francisco  Jewish  history,      For  example,  the  leadership  of  the  San  Francisco  Jewish  community,  stuck  by  its  white  brethren  on  the  issue  of  the  Chinese,  supporting  the    two  draconian  Chinese  exclusion  acts  and  often  barring  Chinese  workers  from  their  businesses.  

Then,  at  the  end  of  the  19th  century,  as  Eastern  European  Jewish  immigrants  flooded  America,  The  San  Francisco  Jewish  community  leadership,  which  was  predominately  comprised  of  German  Jews,  was  embarrassed  and  even  fearful  of  these  Jews,  afraid  that  the  nirvana  they  built  for  themselves  would  come  crashing  down.  These  newcomers  were  more  religious,  less  cultured  and  educated,  and  poor.  The  rabbi  of  Temple  Emanu-­‐el,  Jacob  Voorsanger  referred  to  them  as  'Yiddish  mumbler.'  He  and  the  Temple  board  floated  a  (failed)  plan  to  move  the  Eastern  European  Jews  to  Baja  Mexico.  The  Eureka  Benevolent  Society,  the  primary  Jewish  family  service  agency  in  the  city,  paid  to  send  Eastern  Europeans  back  to  New  York,  claiming  they  were  “unassimilable.”  In  1910  there  were  only  4,000  Eastern  European  Jews  in  San  Francisco,  far  fewer  than  most  American  cities,  including  tiny  Los  Angeles,  which  had  double  the  Eastern  European  Jewish  population.  

To  this  day,  the  San  Francisco  Bay  Area  Jewish  community  is  acknowledged  to  be  different  than  other  Jewish  communities  in  the  United  States.  It  is  more  diverse,  secular  and  open,  with  a  lower  rate  of  synagogue  attendance  and  a  higher  rate  of  intermarriage.    Some  consider  this  a  crisis  of  identity,  others  consider  this  level  of  assimilation  an  American  success  story,  and  believe  the  diversity  of  the  community—and  the  opportunities  it  offers  Jews  to  connect  to  their  Jewish  roots—an  opportunity  to  enlarge  the  tent.  American  Jerusalem  will  explore  how  this  singular  community  developed,  as  well  as  its  significance  and  place  in  the  fabric  of  not  only  California  and  West,  but  America.  

Production  companies:    

Actual  Films  and  Switchback  Films  

Country  of  origin:  

United  States  

Filming  locations:  

 

 

United  States  and  Germany  

Type  of  film:  

Documentary  

 Length  the  film:  

57:55  minutes  

Available  formats:  

Exhibition  format  for  public  screening:  HD  cam  NTSC  and  Bluray  

Team  biographies:  

Jackie  Krentzman  Executive  producer/producer  

Jackie  has  taught  at  the  UC  Berkeley  Graduate  School  of  Journalism  and  UC  Berkeley  Extension.  She  is  also  the  proprietor  of  Krentzman  Communications,  a  Berkeley-­‐based  publications  group  that  specializes  in  print  and  digital  communications.    Krentzman  earned  her  Masters  of  journalism  from  UC  Berkeley  and  a  BA  from  the  University  of  Michigan.  Jackie  is  currently  working  on  two  new  documentary  films,  The  Outcast  of  Beauregard  Parish,  a  profile  of  a  Pentecostal  preacher  in  the  Bible  Belt  who  came  out  as  an  atheist,  and  a  biopic  of  photographer  Eadweard  Muybridge.    

Marc  Shaffer,  director  

For  more  than  two  decades  Marc  Shaffer  has  written,  directed  and  produced  critically  acclaimed  documentary  films  and  television  news  programs.  Marc's  films  have  unraveled  many  of  the  cutting-­‐edge  issues  of  the  day—from  the  Gulf  War  to  the  gulf  oil  spill,  American  medical  care  to  medical  marijuana,  the  Washington  Power  Game  to  Wall  Street’s  power  grab.    Recognized  with  many  honors  including  three  national  Emmy  Award  nominations,  six  Cine  Golden  Eagles  and  a  Cine  Special  Jury  award,  Marc's  documentaries  have  appeared  as  national  primetime  specials  on  PBS,  on  PBS  Frontline,  on  National  Geographic  and  elsewhere.  Marc  was  raised  in  Berkeley,  graduated  from  the  University  of  California  at  Santa  Cruz,  and  lives  in  Oakland  with  his  wife  and  two  children.  

Bonni  Cohen,  Executive  Producer  

  Bonni  founded  Actual  Films  with  Jon  Shenk  in  1998.    Their  latest  film,  The  Island  President,  won  the  2011  Toronto  International  Film  Festival  for  best  documentary.  Bonni  was  the  writer,  producer,  and  director  of  The  Rape  of  Europa  (2006),  the  documentary  film  adaptation  of  Lynn  Nicholas’s  landmark  history  of  the  fate  of  art  during  the  Third  Reich  and  Second  World  War.    The  NEH-­‐supported  film  was  broadcast  by  PBS  as  a  primetime  special  in  November,  2008,  and  it  was  nominated  for  two  Emmy  Awards  and  for  Best  Documentary  Screenplay  by  the  Writers  Guild  of  America.    With  director  Jon  Else,  she  produced  Wonders  Are  Many  (2006),  a  film  about  the  making  of  the  new  John  Adams  and  Peter  Sellars  opera,  Doctor  Atomic.    In  2001,  Bonni  produced  and  directed  The  Nobel:  

 

 

Visions  of  Our  Century,  a  chronicle  of  100  years  of  the  Nobel  Prize  told  from  the  perspectives  of  11  Nobel  laureates  that  was  broadcast  on  PBS.    Bonni  earned  a  Masters  degree  in  Documentary  Film  from  Stanford  University  in  1994  and  Bachelor’s  degree  in  International  Relations  from  Tufts  University  in  1987.  

Camille  Servan-­‐Schreiber,  producer  

Camille    is  an  independent  director  and  producer  of  documentary.  Her  latest  project  was  “Eames:  The  Architect  and  the  Painter”  which  was  released  in  2011  in  theaters  around  the  country  and  received  critical  acclaim.  Other  films  she  has  worked  on  include  The  Rape  of  Europa,  Alice  Waters  and  her  Delicious  Revolution  for  the  PBS  series  American  Masters,  The  secret  sof  J.  Edgar  Hoover  for  National  Geographic,  The  Nobel:  Visions  of  a  Century  for  KQED  as  well  as  multiple  segments  for  the  PBS  series  Frontline  World  and  The  New  Heroes.  Camille  has  received  several  awards  for  her  work  including  a  Golden  Spire  Award  form  the  San  Francisco  Film  Festival.  

Drew  Takahashi,  Animator  

Drew  is  presently  the  Emperor  of  Funjacket  Enterprises.  Previously  he  was  co-­‐founder  and  Chief  Creative  Officer  of  (Colossal)  Pictures.  Using  any  and  all  techniques  in  film  and  video,  he  directed  or  creative  directed  broadcast  identities  (MTV,  Showtime,  Disney  Channel,  Cartoon  Network,  and  Nickelodeon),  commercials  (Coca-­‐Cola,  Intel,  Nike,  Honda,  and  Levi’s),  music  videos  (Bobby  McFerrin,  Prince,  Joe  Cocker,  and  Kronos  Quartet),  and  interfaces  (Apple,  Americast,  WebTV,  and  Microsoft).    At  Funjacket  Enterprises  Drew  has  continued  to  design  and  direct  over  an  even  more  diverse  range  of  opportunities,  including  naming  and  identities  (Laika  Entertainment,  House  Special,    and  Nuvana),  corporate  communications  (Apple,  Intel,  and  Sun  Microsystems),  web  experiences  (playflashback.com,  playinterrobang.com)  and  documentaries  (The  National  Geogaphic  Channel,    NRDC,  and  Actual  Pictures).  

Marco  d'Ambrosio  Composer  

Marco  is  a  film  composer,  conductor-­‐arranger,  music  producer,  multi-­‐instrumentalist,  and  all-­‐around  noise  wrangler.  He  has  scored  numerous  award-­‐winning  films,  documentaries,  and  theatre  projects,  including  the  anime  hit  Vampire  Hunter:  Bloodlust;  Haiku  Tunnel,  the  Emmy  winning  Blink,  The  Rape  of  Europa  for  PBS,  and  Red  Diaper  Baby  for  the  Sundance  Channel.  You  can  hear  other  scores  of  Marco’s  on  projects  released  by  20th  Century  Fox,  Sony  Pictures  Classics,  Lucasfilm  Ltd.,  PDI/Dreamworks,  Pixar,  and  Columbia  Pictures.  Additionally,  Marco  co-­‐scored  the  documentary  feature  We  Live  in  Public,  which  was  awarded  the  Grand  Jury  prize  at  the  2009  Sundance  Film  Festival.    

Interviewee  Biographies:  

Frances  Dinkelspiel,  author  of  Towers  of  Gold,  the  biography  of  her  great-­‐great-­‐  grandfather  Isaias  Hellman.  

 

 

Marc  Dollinger,  Ph.D.,  Richard  and  Rhoda  Goldman  Chair  in  Jewish  Studies  and  Social  Responsibility  at  San  Francisco  State  University.  Co-­‐author  ,  California  Jews,  with  Ava  Kahn.  

Ava  Kahn,  historian  and  author  of  Jewish  Voices  of  the  California  Gold  Rush  and  former  research  associate  at  the  Western  Jewish  History  Center  at  the  Magnes  Museum.  

Lynn  Downey,    historian,  Levi  Strauss  &  Co.    

Rabbi  Sidney  Mintz,  Temple  Emmanu-­‐El,  San  Francisco    

Fred  Rosenbaum,  author,  Cosmopolitians,  A  Social  &  Cultural  History  of  the  Jews  of  the  San  Francisco  Bay  Area.    

John  Rothmann,  KGO  radio  talk  show  host,  and  frequent  lecturer  on  American  politics  and  political  history.  

Kevin  Starr,  California  State  Librarian  Emeritus,  University  Professor  (history),  USC,  and  author  of  more  than  a  half  dozen  books  on  California  history,  including  the  definitive  history,  the  multi-­‐volume,  “America  and  the  California  Dream."  

Richard  White,  professor  of  history,  Stanford  University  

Film  rating:  

G  

Screening  history:  

American  Jerusalem  premiered  the  San  Francisco  Jewish  Film  Festival  before  a  sellout  crowd  of  1400  at  the  Castro  Theater  on  July  31,  2013.  Since,  it  has  screened  to  a  sellout  crowds  in  Palo  Alto,  Los  Angeles  and  Berkeley.  

 

Upcoming  screening  schedule:  

Vogue  Theatre  San  Francisco  (10  day  theatrical  run)  

Napa  Valley  Film  Festival,  November  2013  

Odessa  (Ukraine)  Jewish  Film  Festival,  December  1,  2013  

Tucson  Jewish  Film  Festival,  Jan.  2014  

Atlanta  Jewish  Film  Festival,  February  2014  

PBS:  American  Jerusalem  will  air  on  KQED,  the  San  Francisco  affiliate,  as  well  as  a  number  of  other  affiliates,  in  the  summer  of  2014  

Press  

 

 

Print:  

San  Francisco  J  Weekly  

J  Weekly  July  25,  2013  American  Jerusalem  

San  Francisco  Chronicle    

San  Francisco  Chronicle  July  20,  2013  American  Jerusalem  

San  Francisco  Chronicle  review  

American Jerusalem review San Francisco Chronicle, October 11, 2013

San  Francisco  Magazine    

http://www.modernluxury.com/san-­‐francisco/story/one-­‐question-­‐qa-­‐jackie-­‐krentzman-­‐adolph-­‐sutro  

Palo  Alto  Weekly  

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=19222  

Oakland  Magazine  

http://www.oaklandmagazine.com/Oakland-­‐Magazine/January-­‐February-­‐2013/The-­‐Chosen-­‐People-­‐Do-­‐The-­‐City/  

 

Video:  

Jewish  News  TV  1  

http://jn1.tv/video/news?media_id=154672  

 

Credits  

Director  of  Photography  Jon  Shenk  

 Editors:  

Stephanie  Mechura    Josh  Peterson  

 Associate  Producer  

Arwen  Curry    

 

 

Assistant  Editor  Nina  Goodby  

 Animation  and  Graphic  Design  

Funjacket  Enterprises  Drew  Takahashi  Lidia  Przyluska  

 Narrator  

Carrie  Fleishhacker    

Consulting  Director  Josh  Peterson  

 Sound  Recording  Gabriel  Monts  

 Musical  Score  

Composed  by  Marco  d'Ambrosio  Music  Supervisor  Terri  d'Ambrosio  

Score  Assistant  Ryan  Houck    

Additional  Photography  Richard  Ladkani  John  M.  Kiffmeyer  

Dan  Krauss    

Assistant  Camera  Lincoln  Else  

Craig  Hickerson    

 Editorial  Advisers  Frances  Dinkelspiel  

Ava  Kahn    

Audio  Post  Production    Berkeley  Sound  Artists  

 Sound  Mixers  James  LeBrecht  Dan  Olmsted  

 Dialogue  Editor  

 

 

Patti  Tauscher    

Sound  Effects  Editors    Jamie  Branquinho  

Chase  Keehn    

Voiceover  Recording  Adam  Muñoz,  Fantasy  Studios    Michael  Klinger,  Tree  Fall  Sound  

 On  Line  Editor  and  Motion  Graphic  Design  

Ri  Crawford    

Assistant  On  Line  Editor  Michael  Robinson  Fleming  

 Colorist  Leo  Hallal  

 Post  Production  Supervisor  

Kim  Aubry    

HD  Post  Production  ZAP  Zoetrope  Aubry  Productions,  San  Francisco  

   

Very  Special  Thanks  to  Doug  Goldman  Warren  Hellman  

Anita  Friedman  and  The  Jewish  Family  and  Children’s  Services  of      San  Francisco,  The  Peninsula,  Marin  and  Sonoma  Counties  

David  Fleishhacker  James  Leventhal  

Congregation  Emanu-­‐El  Goethe-­‐Institut  San  Francisco  

   

Fiscal  Sponsorship  AfterImage  Public  Media  

 Additional  music    “The  Shofar”  

Written  by  Jeffrey  Robin  and  Roddy  Skeaping    Courtesy  of  APM  Music  

 

 

 "March  of  the  Belgian  Paratroopers"    

by  Pierre  Leemans  and  

"William  Tell"  overture  by  Gioachino  Rossini  

Performed  by  The  Golden  Gate  Park  Band  The  Musicians  Union  Local  #6,  American  Federation  of  Musicians  

 Major  Funding  for  this  production  was  provided  by  

Lisa  &  Doug  Goldman  Fund  John  &  Marcia  Goldman  Foundation  Richard  and  Rhoda  Goldman  Fund  Fireman's  Fund  Insurance  Company    The  Hellman  Family  Foundation  

The  Skirball  Foundation  Anonymous,  in  honor  of  Warren  Hellman  

 Additional  Funding  provided  by  

Koret  Foundation  Roselyne  Chroman  Swig  Wells  Fargo  Foundation  

Jim  and  Cathy  Koshland  Philanthropic  Fund  Zellerbach  Family  Foundation  

The  Lucius  N.  Littauer  Foundation  Arthur  &  Toni  Rembe  Rock  Fleishhacker  Foundation  

Gerson  and  Barbara  Bakar  Philanthropic  Fund  David  Fleishhacker  Susan  Folkman  Gaia  Fund  

Clarence  E.  Heller  Charitable  Foundation  Hellman-­‐Gibbs  Family  Philanthropic  Fund  

Jim  Joseph  Foundation  Laura  and  Gary  Lauder  Philanthropic  Fund  

John  S.  Osterweis  Philanthropic  Fund  John  and  Lisa  Pritzker  Family  Fund  The  Tauber  Family  Foundation  

 American  Jerusalem:  Jews  and  the  Making  of  San  Francisco    

is  a  co-­‐production  of    

 

 

   

and  

     

 in  association  with      

   

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